“We will overcome the Corona crisis”

Last year, Volkswagen managed to increase sales, revenues and deliveries. The challenges for 2020 are nevertheless enormous.

The Volkswagen Group brought fiscal
year 2019 to a successful conclusion with improved financial results in
almost all brands. Dr. Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Board of
Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, said, “2019 was a very
successful year for the Volkswagen Group. We have laid vital groundwork
for all relevant changes. 2020 is a very difficult year. The corona
pandemic presents us with unknown operational and financial challenges.
At the same time, there are concerns about sustained economic impacts.
We will succeed in overcoming the corona crisis by pooling our strengths
and with close cooperation and high morale in our Group.”

“Given the present heightened uncertainty, production is to be suspended in the near future at factories operated by Group brands.” Dr. Herbert Diess

In view of the current significant
deterioration in the sales situation and the emerging uncertainty in the
supply of parts, Diess announced interruptions in production at the
Group’s sites in Europe. Production at the Spanish plants, Setubal in
Portugal, Bratislava in Slovakia and the Lamborghini and Ducati plants
in Italy will be interrupted this week, while most of the Group’s other
German and European plants are currently preparing a production
interruption, probably for two weeks. In China, on the other hand,
production has resumed, with the exception of the plants in Changsha and
Urumqi.

Regarding the outlook for 2020, Frank Witter, member of the Group Board of Management responsible for Finance and IT, said: “The spread of coronavirus is currently impacting the global economy. It is uncertain how severely or for how long this will also affect the Volkswagen Group. Currently, it is almost impossible to make a reliable forecast. We are making full use of all measures in task force mode to support our employees and their families and to stabilize our business.”

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